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Through its green ammonia export project in the Eastern Cape, the leadership of Hive Hydrogen South Africa intends to show how a just energy transition is possible, Hive Hydrogen chairperson Thulani Gcabashe highlighted at the signing ceremony of the $5.8-billion Coega development.

"We're already working with governments in all spheres, development funding institutions, and local businesses to ensure that the full potential of the project's impact on the development of the Gqeberha area is realised," said Gcabashe at a time when Hive Hydrogen is collaborating with Itochu Corporation of Japan to develop a least-cost green ammonia solution.

Hive Hydrogen and Itochu have signed a memorandum of co-operation in Gqeberha to advance green ammonia. The two companies share objectives regarding the use of green hydrogen and green ammonia in the fight against climate change.

Itochu is a potential strategic equity investor and offtaker from the gigascale green hydrogen project.

"We're also of the same mind about the importance of this investment to impact growth and development in South Africa," added Gcabashe, a former chairperson of Standard Bank and a former CEO of State electricity utility Eskom.

A conglomerate engaged in domestic and international trading and investment which has 90 offices in 61 countries, Itochu is active in textiles, machinery, mining and metals, energy, chemicals, food, general products, realty, information and communications technology, and finance.

For both Hive Energy of the UK and BuiltAfrica of South Africa, the Coega green ammonia export project is a leading project to contribute towards the decarbonisation of energy systems in their areas of operation.

BuiltAfrica, which was founded by Gcabashe in 2009 as an investment and development business focused on sectors that support sustainable development, spent its first ten years focused on developing renewable energy projects in South Africa, having successfully participated in the early rounds of renewable energy procurement under the South African government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

During this period two solar generation plants were built and are in operation. In addition to this, the BuiltAfrica Group was involved in energy efficiency projects aimed at lowering peak demand on the power system.

"The significance of the project can be measured in many different ways - the economic impact it will have on the city of Gqeberha as well as the Eastern Cape province, the jobs that will be created, the new skills it will bring, the impact on South Africa's balance of payments and so on. However, at this very point, where the Climate Conference COP 28 in Dubai is taking place, our attention is drawn to the climate change impacts of the proposed project," Gcabashe said.

Climate change is a gradual and long-term rise in the earth's average temperature as measured from pre-industrial time - the late nineteenth century.

The build-up of greenhouse gas, in particular carbon dioxide (CO2), as a result of human activity, has resulted in heat being trapped in the atmosphere.

As temperatures rise, weather patterns get disrupted - and extreme weather conditions are experienced increasingly.

"A very recent example of this is the heatwave experienced in most of SA making the month of November - the hottest ever recorded! We have also seen flooding in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, which have wrought much misery," Gcabashe outlined at the signing event covered by Mining Weekly.

Listing some of the most pertinent considerations about climate change that should occupy the minds of all policy makers as well as developers, he said: "We need to contain the rise in temperature to below 1.5 oC [above preindustrial levels] so that we can achieve net-zero by 2050. This will arrest further deterioration. However, in 2023 we are already at 1.1 oC and...